Written by

Sean M. Grady / Special to the RGJ

One moment, your glider is being pulled aloft from Minden-Tahoe Airport, the sound of the tow plane's engines traveling back and mixing with the slight rumble from the small amount of turbulence.

Then the glider's pilot detaches the tow rope. You're soaring above the world as the air rushes past the craft's canopy, with only a little bumping from interacting layers of the clear air you sail through, and the Douglas County landscape flowing away to the surrounding mountains. ...